People need to be careful about hoping fotr the demise of Sky Stadium that happens and Wellington can kiss goodbye to hosting any larger fixtures including Finals games. Surprised about Rugby going out there would have thought even at what 1900 was a bit small for them.
Hopefully two things happen Sky rethinks their configuration and as RR says something is done at NZCIS. despite people moaning about travel to it think it could be a great venue with relatively easy access and Brewtown close by
Hopefully two things happen Sky rethinks their configuration and as RR says something is done at NZCIS. despite people moaning about travel to it think it could be a great venue with relatively easy access and Brewtown close by
Wellington NPC crowds regular season have been below a 1,000 so makes sense to go to Porirua. Sky being a rectangle might drag in slightly higher crowds, but NPC crowds in the big centres have been dropping for a long time. Basically the punters are saying there is an overkill of the rugby product, and they'd rather save their dollars & time for higher quality stuff like ABs tests & Super Rugby. Canterbury took a game to Rangiora and drew a bigger crowd than normally at Addington. Players raved about the better game day atmosphere. So this may become the norm in the NPC, big provinces taking games to smaller towns/stadiums.
But yeah an upgraded Jerry Collins to say 5-6K capacity, and the Nix may well look seriously at taking both the ALM & ALW teams there. The Roar moved to the smaller Redcliffe Dolphins stadium for a few seasons, though see they are back at Suncorp now.
I'd say it will be a minimum another 20 years before there is any thought to rebuilding Sky (with a rectangle hopefully). The old Sydney Football Stadium (SFS) only lasted 30 years (built 1988 & demolished 2018), but was a very controversial decision to knock it over and rebuild. And the NSW/Aus Govts have more wealth than WCC & NZ Govt.